Xiao Yan did not back down. His dark eyes were filled with an unyielding, stubborn persistence.
"But Teacher, I have very important things I must do," Xiao Yan insisted, his voice hardening. "Matters of life, death, and honor. If you cannot grant me this leave... then I am afraid I must cancel my admission."
The entire square plunged into a suffocating, dead silence.
The senior students gasped in sheer outrage. To threaten to quit the Jia Nan Academy was practically blasphemy!
Ruo Lin took a deep, shuddering breath, her chest heaving as she fought to control her rising temper. Her mind was racing at a terrifying speed. As a recruiter, discovering an 'A' rank and an 'S' rank genius in a single backwater city was a massive, career-defining achievement.
If Xiao Yan quit, Xun'er would undoubtedly follow him. She would lose the two greatest gems she had ever found, and forfeit the massive academy rewards tied to their enrollment.
"Xiao Yan," Ruo Lin said, her voice dropping an octave, losing its gentle edge. "Tell me, what exactly is this 'very important' task that requires you to abandon your first year of elite education?"
"Teacher, I am afraid I cannot share the details with you," Xiao Yan replied, his stubbornness absolute. "It is a deeply personal secret. I only need a one-year leave. After that, I will report to the academy. I hope you can understand."
Ruo Lin pinched the bridge of her nose, aggressively massaging her temples. 'This stubborn, arrogant, incredibly talented brat,' she cursed internally.
She needed to break his arrogance, but she could not afford to let him walk away. A brilliant, albeit risky, idea suddenly formed in her mind.
"Fine," Ruo Lin sighed, dropping her hand. "You may take your leave."
Xiao Yan's face instantly lit up with a victorious, happy smile.
"But," Ruo Lin interrupted, her aura suddenly flaring with a sharp, overwhelming intensity that made the surrounding air feel incredibly heavy and damp. "You must earn it. You must fight me. If you can deflect and survive twenty of my attacks, I shall grant you your year of freedom."
She smiled, a slightly cunning, predatory look replacing her gentle demeanor. "Do not worry, boy. I am not a tyrant. I will suppress my cultivation strictly to the Dou Zhe realm. But you will still be facing the combat experience of a Da Dou Shi."
Xiao Yan frowned, his mind instantly diving into his inner ring to consult Yao Chen. A few seconds later, a confident glint returned to his eyes.
"I accept your terms, Teacher," Xiao Yan nodded.
The senior students whispered furiously among themselves. 'What a foolish thing to do! Even suppressed, Teacher Ruo Lin's water techniques are flawless!' Xiao Yu slapped a hand to her forehead, sighing loudly at her cousin's endless capacity for courting disaster. Xun'er, however, looked slightly worried.
"Xiao Yan ge-ge, is this okay?" Xun'er asked softly, stepping closer to him.
"Don't worry, Xun'er," Xiao Yan replied charmingly, flashing her a reassuring grin. "I just need to survive twenty moves. I can handle it."
Ruo Lin turned on her heel and walked toward the edge of the square, where the cobblestones gave way to a dense, forested training area. The seven candidates and the senior students quickly followed, forming a wide circle around the impromptu arena.
Xiao Yan stepped into the center of the clearing. He spread his feet, dropping into a solid, combat-ready stance. Searing, pale-orange Dou Qi ignited around his fists, the heat instantly drying the morning dew on the grass beneath him.
Ruo Lin stood twenty paces away. She casually raised her right hand.
A profound, fluid pulse of blue Dou Qi surged from her palm. The ambient moisture in the air rapidly condensed, swirling into her grasp until a long, glistening, razor-sharp whip made entirely of highly pressurized water materialized in her hand.
Standing on the sidelines, Yoriichi's crimson eyes narrowed with focus. 'A Water Whip,' he observed silently. He had thought in last few days about learning the concept fundamentals of adapting Water Breathing to different weapons shaping. Watching a Da Dou Shi wield the exact same concept was a priceless learning opportunity.
"Begin!" a senior student shouted.
CRACK!
Ruo Lin did not hesitate. The water whip snapped forward with the speed of a striking viper, aiming directly for Xiao Yan's chest.
Xiao Yan violently twisted his torso, throwing a heavy, fire-infused punch that perfectly deflected the watery strike. Steam hissed violently into the air as fire met water.
"One," Ruo Lin counted calmly, the whip instantly recoiling and snapping toward his legs in a fluid, continuous motion.
Xiao Yan leaped backward, his combat instincts flaring. For the first ten moves, the exchange was standard. Ruo Lin launched elegant, sweeping strikes, and Xiao Yan utilized his explosive speed and Octane Blast techniques to violently deflect or dodge the attacks.
But as the count reached fifteen, the intensity skyrocketed.
Ruo Lin's whip seemed to multiply, creating a mesmerizing, inescapable net of pressurized water that completely surrounded Xiao Yan.
'She does not strike to break; she strikes to bind and erode,' Yoriichi analyzed from the sidelines, his Transparent World tracking the complex, flowing trajectories of the water. 'Her attacks are gentle, yet undeniably effective. She uses the minimum required force to achieve maximum disruption.'